Plastic bag ban sacked by voters

The controversial bylaw article that would have banned plastic bags at the local Shaw’s Supermarket, Stop & Shop and Wal-Mart was defeated last night by a majority vote.

And Tantasqua Regional High School students Conor Neal and Ryan White, who proposed the article, learned a lot more than they bargained for.

“In the last week or so we learned about the power of democracy and the power of big corporations trying to influence the vote on this article,” Mr. Neal said at last night’s annual town meeting.

If the article had passed, the three stores would have been prohibited from providing lightweight, high-density polyethylene plastic bags to their customers. Reusable bags made of cloth, other machine-washable fabric or durable material and recyclable paper bags would have been the permissible alternatives.

According to the students’ original presentation to the Board of Selectmen, the main reason to get rid of high-density polyethylene plastic bags at stores 35,000 square feet or larger is because of their high volume and the many years it takes for them to break down.

“It’s just a small matter of changing a habit and it’s a big plus for the environment,” Mr. Neal told the crowd, urging them to vote in favor of the article.

Although the two seniors learned a few people can make an enormous difference, the article, which Mr. Neal and Mr. White came up with for their Dynamics in Democracy program at the school, was defeated.

As with losing a big game, it was quite noticeable that the two seniors were disappointed about the vote, despite the constant words of encouragement and thanks of townspeople leaving the auditorium.

“It’s disappointing but it’s just great to raise awareness. That’s all we were looking to do,” Mr. White said. “It would have been a big plus to get this passed, but just educating people is what we’re looking for.”

“It’s kind of disappointing that the town didn’t see this as a huge opportunity,” Mr. Neal added. “Sturbridge was one of the first in the state with recycling, and they could have been the first in the state with this.”

Both Mr. Neal and Mr. White swore that the issue wouldn’t die, and they plan to educate others with a PowerPoint presentation and push the plastic bag ban forward.

Victor Matheson, an environmental economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross, said the bylaw would have simply made Sturbridge change from using plastic bags and to using a different bag.

“If you look at the accumulated evidence of paper versus plastic, there is not a clear environmental benefit switching from plastic to paper,” Mr. Matheson said. “Paper is in fact more energy-intensive. It also produces more waste. Also, it takes more space in landfill to put in.”

Mr. Matheson said plastic bag litter is not an issue in Sturbridge overall.

“Simply switching from plastic to paper is not a net economic benefit, and it makes it inconvenient for consumers and more expensive for retailers,” Mr. Matheson said.

Tree Warden Thomas A. Chamberland said the article was rushed and the Board of Health was not fully involved, nor did it vote to support the article.

“I think we have not formed the partnerships that we need to really make the kind of positive statement that we have the ability to make,” Mr. Chamberland said.

Under the proposed bylaw, the Board of Health would have determined when a violation had occurred and would issue a written warning. If the affected store had subsequent violations, it would be fined $100, followed by a $200 fine and then a $300 fine for third and future offenses.

Jeffrey Bonja asked two questions: How much is it going to cost the town to enforce, and what about the litigation costs for the town with the burden of defending its rulings? He never got an answer.

Lindsey Goodwin called the bylaw a huge opportunity to make a large change with very small effort on the part of the town.

“The statement will ripple through other communities and other stores. It will cause every shopper at those stores to think about bringing recyclable bags,” Mrs. Goodwin said. “Plastic bags are wasteful and unnecessary. It’s time to take care of the bad habit.”

Edmund J. Coletta Jr., spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection, said the agency knows of no communities in the state that have banned the use of plastic bags. He said Boston and Somerville have discussed the possibility, but have not taken action on it.